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Cognitive Load Theory

Series of instructional recommendations built upon knowledge of how humans learn.

5 foundational key principles:

In order to increase learning, reduce extraneous load and optimise intrinsic load.

  • Intrinsic load is optimised through appropriate curriculum sequencing.
  • Extraneous load is minimised by good Instructional design.

A - Architecture:

cognitive architecture of human memory.

3 key resources we draw upon to think: (They are related within the process of learning, remembering and forgetting)

  • Environment:
    • Unlimited external store of information
    • Books, internet, knowledge shared by others
  • Long term memory:
  • Working memory
    • Where thinking takes place
    • limited
      • WM is the bottleneck of our thinking
      • Overcome by chunking and automating info in long term memory

How we think complex thoughts?

Chunking and Automating:

  • Child learning to read. H > House > Novel about house
  • Turning cognitively demanding new information into automated familiar information within long term memory
  • New information takes up more working memory capacity than familiar information in WM.

B - Biology:

Biologically primary knowledge vs biologically secondary knowledge

C - Categorisation:

Intrinsic load:

  • Inescapable if the core-to-be-learned idea is to be mastered
  • The load we want our student’s working memories to be occupied with
  • Comes from the nature of the material

Extraneous load:

  • Comes from the manner and structure of the material
  • It draws student’s working memory resources away from the core information to be learned
  • Extrinsic cognitive load

D - Domains:

Domain general skills:

Domain specific skills:

  • Those that are only applicable within a specific domain
    • How to find derivative of a function
    • CLT considers this as Biologically Secondary knowledge and can be taught
  • Difference between expert vs novice
    • Differential domain specific knowledge held in long term memory.
    • Novices need to use thinking skills. Experts use knowledge.
    • They have a store of situation and action pairs
      • They can also explain why this pair make sense from foundational principles
      • Trader: chart pattern - executes a strategy
    • Experts quickly finds the right hooks in an information

Takeaway:

You can only improve a person’s expertise in a specific field and you cannot teach a general strategy for all fields

You do that by increasing their knowledge in that field

E - Elements:

  • Any learning to take place, a number of elements of new information must be considered and related in working memory simultaneously.
  • The more elements of new information and the more complex the relations between these elements, the more challenging the task it will be.
  • the source of all cognitive loads(both intrinsic and extraneous)
  • Material with low element interactivity can be learned in isolation
  • CLT’s instructional recommendations are directly aimed at altering the number of interacting elements with a learning task
  • Element Interactivity

Optimise Intrinsic Cognitive Load:

Signs:

Confusion - if WM is overloaded. Boredom - if WM is under utilised.

Methods:

Pre-teaching:

  • Delivering a portion of the content before the main lesson, and reinforcing it through revision over time, can reduce the intrinsic load experienced by students when they attempt the final, complete task.
    • Rehearsal can come under this
  • Pre-teach vocabulary, Pre-teach characters, Pre-teach events and timelines, Pre-teach skills.

Segmentation:

  • Intrinsic cognitive load can be reduced by breaking up a task into bite-sized chunks.
  • Construct a skills hierarchy
    • For complex skills, student practice of a segmented skill often looks very different from the final performance.

Cut an Elements, or a few elements:

  • Progressive build up example
  • Turn one picture over at a time and try to connect it to one or more of the pictures already on your map

Sequencing and Combination:

Part whole:
  • Building constituent skills and knowledge before putting it all together
    • Effective when individual task makes sense in isolation
    • Methods:
      • Chain forwards
      • Chain backwards
      • Snow ball
Whole part:
  • Providing a general overview first, followed by more focused practice of individual segments
  • Methods:
    • Simplify conditions
      • Ex: Oral presentation
    • Manipulate the emphasis

Introduce variation:

Expertise reversal effect:

Reduce Extraneous Cognitive Load:

Minimise Extraneous Cognitive Load

Redundancy effect:

  • Eliminate unnecessary information and do not replicate necessary information.
  • Presenting same information in different modalities.
  • Images and text together represent redundancy if they both communicate the same thing
  • The Redundancy Effect

Bullet-proof definition:

Split attention:

  • Information that must be combined should be placed together in space and time
    • Information should only be placed together in space and time if it can’t be understood in isolation and is essential rather than redundant
  • You should make the integration happen at the mind - Computer and manual example
  • In the early stages of learning to use a new technology, a highly efficient instructional method is to produce a concise manual that integrates informative images and descriptive text.
  • The Split-Attention Effect

Transient Information:

  • When information disappears, and students must therefore hold it in working memory, this causes extraneous cognitive load.
    • It also must be high in information content.

Modality:

Different channels for WM:
  • Auditory Channel
    • Sounds or language comes from environment or Long term memory
  • Visual Channel
    • Visual or Spatial information
  • The Modality Effect
By using two channels in tandem while presenting information:
  • we can eliminate visual split-attention
  • Enables the processing of more information than via a single channel
  • In redundancy same channel is used. But here different channels should be used
Using dual modality, eliminate split attention:
  • You can simultaneously present the two information without delay to integrate in WM
  • Whenever teaching involves a concept that can be communicated in pictorial form, its worthwhile to consider using dual modality instruction
    • Map, Diagram, Schematic, Music notes
    • But dont present text and oral format side by side
Dual coding:
  • Relates to how information is remembered
    • In two different but connect ways
      • Improves retrievability, because there are two separate environmental triggers for that memory to be retrieved
Comparison between Modality and Split Attention:
  • Split Attention: Placing image and written text as close together as possible in space and time
  • Modality: Presenting images and spoken language
  • The above 2 should be done if the two components are unintelligible in isolation
    • Bicycle pump working explanation and video

Structure the Practice:

  • Worked Examples

Goal free effect:

  • Removing the goal removes a large number of the interacting elements associated with means end analysis, freeing up WM resources to focus on learning
  • An excessive focus on goals can lead to students successfully completing a task, but learning a very little from it
  • Focusing on getting the right answer can also make students less likely to get the right answer
  • Key pre-conditions:
    • Restricted actions
      • They should get a limited action -> outcome pairs. Else WM will be overloaded
    • Rapid feedback
    • Reliable results
  • Goals drive people away from a learning focus, even when they know they should be focusing on learning

Self-management effects:

Teaching learners to remove redundant information provides similar benefits as instructor managed materials.

Presenting Declarative and Procedural Information Separately

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